How to plan a day of VBS

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to plan a 1- 1 &1/2 hour VBS for 120 Dominican kids.

This is not suppose to be a stressor - if you at all in anyway can't work on this project because of school and end of the year craziness, PLEASE LET ME KNOW.

First I'm going to tell you what you need to do in five easy steps. Then I'll give you some ideas for how to do it by talking through an example and showing you models of how you might respond. If you and your partner get absolutely stuck or feel overwhelmed, call me, but keep in mind that these plans are just that: plans. They are not set in stone and probably will change and adapt by the time we actually get to the DR.


You need to do the following 5 things:

1) pick a story from the bible about Jesus or the apostles that goes with the theme : Jesus' love for us. Think of a way to tell this story to a big crowd of small children in about 15 minutes.

2) pick a bible verse that goes with our theme (Jesus' love for us) and with your story. Think of a way to get 100 small kids to 'memorize' the verse in about 15 minutes

3) pick a craft. Ideally, it goes with the story and the theme, but it doesn't have too. Most important is that it can be done by all ages (think, 5-11) and won't take longer than 15-20 minutes, for even the slow, turtle like children.

4) think of 2-3 active games that kids can play. Remember, complicated is not good. Simple, lots of running, no clear cut winner or looser are best. These are games that we will play as the kids gather for VBS and as we finish up the craft at the end.

5) email me a short outline of your solutions - aka your "lesson plan" by next Monday or Tuesday. This is a flexible deadline, so let me know if you're having trouble meeting it. Include a list of all the supplies you will need, and amounts. Plan for 120 kids. YOU ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THOSE CRAFT ITEMS. When you email me the list of what you will need, we'll make a master list, and split up the items from there.

DON'T WORRY ABOUT GETTING THE STORY PERFECT. After you turn in your lesson plan, I'll talk to you more about writing dialogue or the narration for the story. I want to respect those of you who still have final exams, so I'm trying to keep it simple. For now just concentrate on brainstorming ideas and picking a story.

As you figure out what stories you want, post them on the blog. This way you guys can see what other people are thinking, so not everyone picks the same story. Same thing with bible verses.